For this weeks project I took a portrait I found on pixabay.com and tried to give it a little more life. I thought the original shot was very beautiful, but I thought some of the colors were pretty washed out. The picture seemed to be lacking quite a bit of contrast.
What I did:
First, I created a new layer in Photoshop and filled it 50% grey. Then I changed the blending mode to overlay which made the layer seem non-existent. However, this layer made me able to non-destructively edit the photo. I used the dodge and burn tool to bring out some of the colors in the photo that weren't very noticeable. I also was able to add a little more depth to her face and the background. By darkening up the edges of the background, the model stands out a lot more. Then, I used a vibrance and levels adjustment layers to bring out the model's red hair and also warm up the tone of her skin. In the original photo, her skin is very white and color looking.
Design Principles applied:
Contrast: Contrast was what the original picture was lacking. The model is very beautiful and the shot is very interesting but she didn't really pop off the page/screen like I wanted her to. I accomplished the contrast I desired by darkening the background so that she stood off the page. As the background got a little darker blue, and her hair got a brighter red color, all the details of the picture seem a lot more noticeable. I also brightened the green color of her eyes. Another element of contast in the picture, is the shadowing of her face. I added shadows to the outer edges of her face, on the top of her forehead (near her hairline) and on her cheekbone to add some dimension and depth to her face.
Proximity: I added a lot of depth to the picture by increasing the shadows on the models face and also the shadows in the background. The made the model seem closer to the camera/viewer.
Alignment: The photo is aligned to be centered, however, the model's posture creates visual interest because although her face is centered in the photo as the focal point, her posture is symmetrical.